My daddy's your parole officer!
by Tani Hunter
Summary: How will the town of Konoha respond to a group of parolees who have come to their town. How will these troubled teens adjust to their new surroundings and what will they do when trouble brews? Rated T.
1. New Parolees

**Things get interesting for the little town of Konoha when the Sabaku siblings arrive- but what will be their role in a town without rules?**

I do not own Naruto...

**Chapter 1**

_Oh, you've got to be kidding me..._

Kakashi Hatake looked around the room at the new set of social rejects that had come to their town from the outer reaches. Behind him he sensed, rather than heard Iruka Umino sigh, while Ebisu Hijikata gritted his teeth.

"Let's just get this over with, Kakashi." Ebisu said through clenched teeth.

The kids in front of them (nine in all) seemed to be worse than usual, most of them were making such a ruckus that it was slowly giving the three men a headache. Kakashi looked at the two men behind him. There were times he really hated his job, and now was definitely one of them. Unfortunately for him, Kakashi outranked the other two and it was up to him to restore order. And, boy, did he know just how to do it... Kakashi smiled an evil smile and shot a look at the two men. They both nodded and prepared themselves (or rather, their eardrums) for what they knew was about to happen. Kakashi made a small circle with the middle finger and thumb of his right hand, placed it in his mouth and gave a long and _very_ piercing whistle which had the group of teenagers in front of the three men covering their ears to protect them from the harsh sound. They all looked towards the source of the sound. Two of the boys, one with short spikey blond hair, the other with long black hair and and strange blue eyes that seemed almost purple were in the middle of a fight and and the remaining teenagers (with the exception of a red-haired boy who sat near the wall and looked bored with the proceedings) were cheering them on. They had all stopped screaming when Kakashi had whistled and looked at the three adults who now stood before them. The red head eyed the three men curiously.

_So, these are the parole officers, huh? _He narrowed his eyes and shook his head in disgust. _They don't look much better than the last parole officers. _He thought dismissively. _Although the one in front looks like a hard-ass, I pity the poor sot who gets_ him...

He eyed Kakashi slightly apprehensively. Kakashi noticed the boy eyeballing him, but chose to ignore it, as he had more important things to occupy him- intimidating this group into submission- something he thought would be hard to do as he looked at the new juvi parolees. Of the 9, only 3 were girls. He turned his attention to them first. Two were blond, one a brunette. If he were honest with himself, Kakashi didn't think either of these girls deserved to be here. He looked at the brunette first. She looked about 14 years old, about the age of his own daughter. She had her hair done up in two buns and was wearing a white form-fitting, sleeveless shirt, name-brand faded blue jeans and addidas sneakers. With her large, soft brown eyes she looked as far from a convicted criminal as the Earth was from the moon, yet here she was. She squirmed under his gaze, but to her credit, she didn't look away.

_Mmm... she knows she has done wrong and is embarrassed by it, but not afraid to face the music. _Kakashi thought.

He turned to the next girl. According to her file, she was slightly younger than the brunette, but not by much. She had light, straw-coloured blond hair with a fringe obscuring the right half of her face and turquoise blue eyes. She was wearing a form-fitting, sleeveless purple midriff top, black cargo pants and combat boots. She stared at him, blushed slightly, squirmed and then dropped her gaze.

_Another one who knows right from wrong and obviously regrets whatever she did to get herself here. _Kakashi sighed.

He really wished these kids would chose their friends more carefully. The world would be ahellava better place if they would. He turned his attention to the last girl. She met his gaze and tilted her chin defiantly.

_Oh_ hell _no_,_ you did _not_ just give me attitude... _Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

The last girl was a darker blond than the other and had her hair tied into 4 pig-tails, which she wore in a spikey style. She looked a few years older than the other two, around 16 or 17 years old. Almost too old to be here. She was wearing a white and purple mini-skirted dress with short sleeves. Underneath the dress she was wearing a long-sleeved shirt made of some kind of fishnet material and purple tights with purple pumps. She had aquamarine eyes that had a hard glint to them, but Kakashi wasn't fooled. He had been a parole officer for a long time and had learned to read his parolees pretty well early on. It was a skill he was well-versed in and he was hardly ever wrong in the way he judged others.

_She wants me and everyone else to believe that she doesn't care what happens to her, but she is still scared of the consequences. _

Kakashi turned away from the girl, well-aware that he now had the undivided attention of the 6 boys. All of them looked to be more or less the same age. Four were brunettes of various shades, one a blond and one a redhead. He looked at the boy the furthest to his left first. He had long dark hair which he wore in a spike-styled pony-tail, a white button-up shirt with a loosely knotted dark blue tie, black jeans and black shoes. Overall it was a rather sloppy look, yet it worked for him. He had small studs in both ears and an irritated expression on his face which seemed to compliment the lazy, annoyed aura which surrounded the boy. He looked around 14 or 15 years old. Kakashi moved on to the next boy. This one had his dark brown hair cut into a spike style. He was wearing a dark blue shirt, jeans and sneakers with a darker blue parker over it, which was trimmed with a fur lining, giving the boy a wild look.

_No doubt the look he was going for, with _that_ get-up._

To top it off, the boy had, what appeared to be, red tatoos in the form of fangs on his cheeks and sharp, fang-like canines, which were exposed due to the cheeky grin he was giving Kakashi, as if he hadn't a care in the world. He, too, seemed about 14 years old. Shaking his head, Kakashi swiftly moved on to the next boy. This one was slightly older than the other two before him, around 16, with a lighter chocolate brown hair, also done in a spike style, and dark brown eyes.

_What is it with kids and their trends these days? _Kakashi wondered to himself. _I'm all for looking cool, but what's with the 'I-just-stuck-my-finger-in-the-wall-socket' look?_

This one was dressed in a simple black long-sleeved shirt, black slacks and shoes with blue face paint done in a tribal pattern. Kakashi looked to the boy left of the one he had just scrutinized. This one was the blond male in the group.

_Yet another one in the hedgehog-hairstyle gang._Kakashi thought tiredly, taking in his spikey hairstyle.

He looked about 14 or 15 years old, but the cheeky look on his face made him seem younger, as if the whole thing was a joke to him. He had bright-blue eyes that were filled with mischief, but Kakashi wasn't fooled. Here was obviously a boy with a history which could fill a book and baggage which could possibly give an elephant a run for its money in terms of weight. This boy also didn't seem to belong here, yet here he was, and already causing trouble... Which brought Kakashi to the boy next to him, the one he'd been fighting. This boy was about 15 years old with a bored expression and an insolent look in his strange coloured eyes.

_At least his hair isn't spikey._

He was wearing a plain white shirt, black slacks and shoes, all of which looked extremely well-made and expensive. This boy obviously came from a wealthy family. He was wearing black a headband which obscured his forehead and completed his look of nonchalant elegance. Kakashi now turned to the last boy. The redhead had his shortish hair spiked in a nonchalant style which looked as if he had casually run his hands through it. His spiked fringe covered his forehead, but was too short to mask the red tattoo- the kanji word for love- that had been etched there. Around his teal blue eyes, he had what looked like black face paint and he had a hard, almost insolent, look on his face.

_And here we have the smart-assed Emo._

He was wearing a plain long-sleeved black shirt with a red one-shoulder overcoat, black pants and black shoes and looked about 14 years old. Kakashi realized that the room had been silent for about 10 minutes as they all waited for him to speak. He surveyed the entire group in front of him for another few minutes, confident he had summed them all up correctly.

_Ok, here we go!_

"Alright, kiddiewinks, listen up!" Kakashi said. "The gent to my right is Ebisu Hijikata. The one to my left, Iruka Umino. I'm Kakashi Hatake, and as I'm sure you've no doubt realized for yourselves, we're your new parole officers."

The boy with the purple facepaint snorted. The spikey-haired blond girl rolled her eyes while the redhead narrowed his. The boy with the long hair smirked. The blond boy, however, was shaking his head in a confused way.

"There's no _way _the three of you are parole officers!" He yelled defiantly. "Parole officers are mean and wear blue police uniforms!"

He swept his hand out to the three suit-wearing men in front of him.

"You guys look like bankers!" He continued.

"Or lawyers." The younger blond girl interjected.

"Whatever." The blond boy waved his hand impatiently. "The point is, there is no frigging way that three weakassed men in prissy suits are parole officers."

"I agree." The long-haired youth said, still smirking.

"Well then, why don't you put us to the test?" Ebisu suggested.

"What, you want us to fight you or something?" The brunette girl asked, tilting her head slightly to the side in her confusion.

Ebisu nodded. The boy with the purple face paint shook his head while the wild-looking one gave a short, bark-like laugh. The long, spikey-haired brunette smirked.

"Troublesome." He mumbled to himself.

"You can't be serious?" The blond boy yelled.

_He sure has a big mouth... _Kakashi thought to himself.

"I am." Ebisu assured him. "Deadly serious."

The group in font of them continued to gap at the three men, and Kakashi was sure not one of them had missed the ominous emphasis Ebisu had placed on the word 'deadly'. Kakashi was sure that the only way they were going to get this lot to take them seriously was to show them how serious they were. So, he decided to goad them further.

"What's the matter?" He goaded them. "You guys think the three of us are push-overs, right? So come and prove it."

The group of teens shifted uncertainly in front of them.

"Or are you a bunch of chickens after all?" Iruka taunted.

That did the trick. The long-haired boy with the headband narrowed his purplish eyes and shot forward in an instant, a switchblade clutched in his hand. Kakashi shot Iruka a look, well it was a mere flicker out of the corner of his eyes really, but the man ran forward to intercept the boy. The boy swung his switchblade towards Iruka, but he dodged and swung a punch at the boy. The boy blocked the punch with one arm and thrust out his switchblade with the other. With reflexes born from a lifetime of defying death, Iruka leaped backwards to avoid the potentially lethal knife thrust.

_The kid's not half bad. _Kakashi mused, impressed by the boy's strength and speed as he avoided another blow from Iruka.

Looking at Ebisu, Kakashi nodded to the chairs which lined the perimeter of the room. Ebisu walked over to the nearest one and nonchalantly tossed to Kakashi, who caught it and, in turn, tossed it towards Iruka. Iruka saw the chair in-coming and dodged yet another blow from the boy, who had taken his moment of distraction to double the ferocity of his attack. Iruka feigned an attack from the left and, as the boy moved to avoid it, swiftly spun around to the right, surprising the youth. He took this moment of surprise to hook the thrown chair towards him and then spun the boy into the chair before he could attack again. Iruka even had the boy's switchblade at its owner's throat, and by its owner's own hand no-less. The boy in the chair's eyes were wide, while the rest of the group could only stare with varying shades of shock and disbelief etched onto their faces. The redhead seemed to regain his composure first and shrewdly narrowed his eyes as Iruka left the seated boy and walked back to his colleagues. It was obvious that they all had to re-evaluate what they had thought about the three men in front of them. He looked at the three men facing him more carefully. The one to his left (the one named Ebisu Hijikata) had dark hair, cropped to a military style. His suit was plain black, with gold cuff-lings and a gold tie pin on his black tie and he wore a white shirt. Here was obviously a man who valued rules and followed them to the letter. He wore dark round-eyed shades, which obscured his eyes, and yet went well with the overall look. The one in the middle, who had introduced himself as Kakashi Hatake, had silvery platinum-blond hair and charcoal-grey eyes, which looked highly amused. An amused simle played on his lips, which was _almost _a smirk. He was wearing a bluish-grey suit and a very light blue shirt with a slightly darker light blue tie. His hair fell forward in a casual way and he had a slight hardness to his features, which told the redhead that he could be a very dangerous man, an idea which was re-enforced by the scar which ran over his left eye- from below the eyebrow to just below his eye. The third man-Iruka Unimo- looked to be the youngest of the three men. He had his longish black hair pulled into a ponytail at the top of his head. His dark brown eyes plainly showed that he was not amused. He had a scar running across the bridge of his nose, from about half-way on one cheek to about half-way on the other. He was wearing a black pin-striped suit with a white shirt, black tie and a white sown-on handkerchief in the left-hand pocket.

_Just what have we gotten ourselves into? _The redhead wondered.

It was obvious that these men were no strangers to violence and that they meant business. Kakashi picked up the briefcase that was standing next to him, and which none of the youngsters had noticed up until this point, and walked to one of the chairs, opening it and revealing a collection of folders.

_Our case-files._The redhead rightly guessed.

"Well, now that we've got that out of the way," Kakashi said. "it's time for the three of us to place faces with names and for you lot to learn who your new parole officer is."

He straightened up and faced the group of teenagers.

"When I call your name, raise your hand and them move over to where either Ebisu or Iruka point for you to go." Kakashi told them. "Since there are nine of you and three of us, there will be three three-man groups. Everyone clear?"

Silence greeted him.

"Alright then, here we go." Kakashi said, while opening the file at the top.

**I hope you enjoyed it! Please don't forget to review.**


	2. Getting to know each other

I don't own Naruto- I'm just a fan of it! In case anyone was wondering, the setting is in a slightly futuristic time where there are a few powerful families who control the major towns/cities while the smaller towns are left to kind of govern themselves in a world where the weak are rapidly devoured by the strong and where chaos in the form of gangs runs rife.

**Chapter 2**

"Kankuro No Sabaku." Kakashi called.

The boy with the purple facepaint slowly raised his hand. Iruka pointed at the chairs along the wall to his left and the boy sat down. Kakashi closed the file and moved on to the next one.

"Kiba Inuzuka."

The wild looking boy stepped forward. Iruka pointed again and the boy grinned and took a seat next to the one named Kankuro. Kakashi moved on to the third file.

"Ten-Ten Ayaname."

The brunette with the buns raised her hand hesitantly and shuffled forwards nervously in the direction Iruka indicated. As she sat down, the wild- looking Kiba grinned at her in a friendly manner and she smiled back hesitantly. Kakashi dropped the three files to the floor with a crash and moved on to the next person's file.

"Temari No Sabaku."

The blond with the four ponytails slowly raised her hand and Ebisu pointed at the chairs to his right. She slowly moved to where he pointed and took a seat opposite the one named Kankuro. The two locked eyes and immediately seemed to engage in a silent conversation. Kakashi, meanwhile, was staring at the rather confusing name on the next file.

"Naruto Namikaze/ Naruto Uzumaki."

The blond-haired boy looked at Kakashi as he called his name.

"Rather a confusing name, isn't it?" Kakashi asked the boy, raising an eyebrow.

The boy just shrugged his shoulders in a nonchalant fashion.

"It's a confusing family." He replied.

"So which is it?" Kakashi asked. "Namikaze or Uzumaki?"

"Both." The boy named Naruto answered. "One is my mother's family name, the other, my father's."

"So which one do you use?" Iruka asked, sensing that Kakashi was starting to lose patience.

"Whichever I feel like." Naruto answered in a bored voice, as if this was a waste of his time. "Whichever suits my purpose on any given day. Are we done with the twenty questions yet?"

"Why you insolent little-"

Ebisu made to walk towards the boy, but Kakashi raised a hand to stop him.

"Which one do you prefer?" He asked.

Naruto shrugged again.

"Whichever. I told you, it depends-"

"Then _pick _one." Kakashi cut across the boy with a dangerous tone in his voice.

Naruto watch Kakashi with a slightly apprehensive look on his face, while Kakashi's expression was giving the boy a silent warning. Naruto was silent for awhile, then sighed.

"Uzumaki." He said.

"What?" Kakashi asked with a slightly confused frown.

Naruto shot Kakashi a look which said quite plainly that he thought the man was an idiot.

"You asked me which name I would prefer." Naruto said in an annoyed voice. "I prefer the name Naruto Uzumaki."

Kakashi closed his eyes for a second then fixed the boy in font of him with a piercing look.

_Give me the strength not to kill him..._

"Fine, take a seat."

Kakashi scratched out the name 'Naruto Namikaze' as Naruto walked over to where Kankuro, Ten-Ten and Kiba were sitting.

"Not _that_ side, dumbass!" Ebisu yelled, pointing at the seats where Temari was currently seated. "_This _side!"

"Well, no-one said which side, asshole!" Naruto shot back.

Ebisu was nearly apoplectic with rage, and deciding that he had better step in before Ebisu throttled the child, which would result in a tedious amount of paper work for himself, Kakashi spoke.

"Iruka, Ebisu, switch." He said in a tired voice.

Without hesitation or comment, Iruka moved to Kakashi's right side, while a fuming Ebisu took his left. Kakashi watched the blond as he took the seat next to Temari, lounging in it as if he didn't have a care in the world. The boy certainly knew how to get under one's skin-pretending not to have a care in the world, yet making it clear that he was crying out for help. Kakashi raised his head to look at the photo of a dark-haired boy on the wall above Naruto and Temari's heads.

_He reminds me so much of you..._Kakashi thought with a faint smile on his face.

With a slight shake of his head, Kakashi opened the next file- and did a double take at the name printed there.

"Neji Hyuuga."

Everyone stared as the boy with the long straight hair turned his head towards Kakashi and slightly raised his left hand.

"Wait, Hyuuga?" Kiba asked.

"As in Hiashi Hyuuga, the owner and CEO of the Hyuuga Corp?" The boy with the spike ponytail asked as Neji joined Naruto and Temari.

Neji nodded.

"He's my uncle." The tone in his voice made it clear that this topic was off-limits.

Kakashi shot the boy a look then dropped the three files onto the floor on his right. He then turned his attention to the last three in front of him.

"Ino Yamanaka."

The last girl, the blond with the fringe, raised her hand. Kakashi said nothing and moved on to the next file.

"Shikamaru Nara."

The boy with the spikey ponytail lazily raised his hand. Kakashi nodded at him.

"I guess that'll make you Gaara No Sabaku, right?" Kakashi asked the redhead as he flicked open the last file.

The boy called Gaara simply nodded. Kakashi dropped the files onto the floor in front of him and spoke to the group at large.

"Now you know what groups you're in, it's time to find out who your PO's are."

Kakashi turned to his Ebisu.

"Since you're already on this side. Ebisu, you take the kids on my left, Iruka, the ones on my right."

The two men nodded once. Kakashi then looked at the three in front of him.

"I guess that just leaves the three of you and me."

He smiled slightly at how nervous the three of them looked. Kakashi then addressed the group as a whole.

"Now that the tedious paperwork has been settled, we can get down to business." He looked at the nine children in front of him, locking eyes with each. "You are all here because you have done something which is construed as morally repugnant in the eyes of the populace."

"What?" Naruto asked, with a confused look on his face.

"He means that you've done something wrong, something which other people look down on." Iruka explained.

"Why didn't he just say that in the _first _place..." Naruto and Ino said at the same time.

"Yeah, speak English, dude." The wild-haired Kiba added.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru said with a shake of his head.

"Seriously," Naruto said, addressing Kakashi. "you need to learn how to talk to people other than your goons. I can't even spell the word construed- never mind understand what it means..."

"Would you like me to get you a dictionary?" Ebisu asked between gritted teeth before Kakashi could respond.

"Are you calling me stupid?" Naruto's eyes glinted ominously.

"If the shoe fits." Ebisu mumbled.

"Enough!"

Kakashi brought everyone's attention back to him before it turned into a brawl. He turned to his colleague. Although it wasn't uncommon for Ebisu to goad the new recruits, it was strange that he had so much malice in this particular case. For some or other reason, he just didn't like this boy. And Naruto had no love for this man either. While Kakashi was pondering the best way to continue, Gaara spoke.

"Perhaps if you reconstructed your statement in a way everyone could understand, you'd have fewer flare-ups and, therefore, fewer headaches." Gaara's face was a deadpan mask, but his sea-green eyes held a spark of amusement in them.

Everyone in the room stared at the redhead. Although he had shown his solitary nature in the way he had not taken part in the brawl at the beginning, his file stated that he was all but mute, only speaking when he felt the occasion was important enough. Everyone was surprised that he had decided to speak at this moment, and in a way which, simultaneously appeased Naruto, got rid of one aspect of Kakashi's headache and left Ebisu without a leg to stand on. The boy was obviously intelligent. Kakashi would have to keep an eye on him. Kakashi shook his head.

"Alright, let's see if this clears things up. I'll say it so that everyone understands and has no illusion to where we stand."

He again looked at each juvenile parolee, some met his gaze, some squirmed and looked down while others glared back at him. He took a deep breath before continuing.

"The three of us are not your friends. We are not your brothers and we certainly are _not_ your parents." Kakashi's eyes hardened and his face grew fiercer. "We are your parole officers, and believe me, we will crack down hard if you so much as _think _of putting a toe out of line. You are all here for a minimum of four years. Neither Iruka, nor Ebisu want you longer than that, and I most certainly don't- so as long as you fulfill the requirements of your parole, we'll all get along fine."

Kakashi paused to let what he'd said sink in.

"But if you don't-if you get into any trouble in any size, shape or form, or worse, if you try to run- believe me when I tell you there will be no place on earth, heaven or hell that will keep you safe from my wrath." Kakashi's face said it all- he meant business- and the looks on Iruka and Ebisu's faces said they would aid and abettor Kakashi in any and every way possible. "So don't even _think_ of trying to run, because I _will _find you, no matter where you hide, and then it'll be the worst for you. So I suggest you all make it easy on yourselves and just co-operate with the three of us- it'll be better all round if you do. Everyone understand?"

He got a few nods and mumbled responses. Kakashi frowned.

"Let's try that again- does everyone understand?" Kakashi asked with a hard edge to his voice.

"Yes, sir." Came the, rather unenthusiastic, response from the parolee recruits.

"Very well then, Ebisu and Iruka will take their teams into the two adjoining rooms to discuss the particulars of your parole with you." Kakashi motioned to the other two parole officers who lead their 3 charges through two adjoining doors, then he returned to the three in front of him. "Well, then. Alone at last. Take a seat."

Kakashi motioned at the seats lining the back wall and Gaara and Shikamaru sat down, Ino in between them, as Kakashi scooped up the wayward chair and sat down in front of his charges.

"Well, Shikamaru, Ino- neither of you seemed to have committed a crime worthy of you being locked up in a criminal institution, yet here you are." Kakashi said as he perused the files that seemed to have magically teleported into his hand (although Shikamaru had seen the man quickly scoop them up as he picked up the chair). "On the other hand, you, Gaara, face more serious charges. Assault, battery, attacking with intent to do serious bodily harm- you're just lucky they didn't try you as an adult."

Kakashi shot a look at the stoney-faced redhead while Shikamaru glanced cautiously at Gaara out of the corner of his eye and Ino gawked at him.

"It's no more than that bastard deserves." Gaara said in a tense voice.

"Oh, he deserved to have his skull fractured did he?" Kakashi quirked an eyebrow, his dark grey eyes monitoring the boy's reactions.

Gaara nodded his head agitatedly.

"And he deserved having his nose broken, jaw smashed, sternum cracked and four ribs broken?"

"Yes." The word came out as a hiss between clenched teeth.

"And what about the fact that he suffered severe internal trauma-several organs were ruptured, I believe, as well as a punctured lung?" Kakashi asked, trying to illicit any response other than the taciturn reactions he had been receiving from the boy, which he found rather disturbing. "What if you'd actually managed to kill the man?"

If Kakashi had been hoping for a sign of remorse, he was sorely mistaken. Gaara simply shrugged in a nonchalant way, his face deadpaned, but his eyes glowing with some hidden emotion. Ino was leaning away from Gaara, looking horrified and Shikamaru was looking at him, disbelieve etched onto his normally good natured face. Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

"So you wouldn't have cared if you'd killed the guy?"

"Is there anything in my file that suggests for an instant that I'd care if I'd killed that guy?" Gaara growled, finally letting anger show on his face. "If anything I'd assume you'd come to the conclusion that I was _trying _to kill that sonofabitch!"

Gaara clenched his fists as he looked at the floor and Shikamaru actually scooted a few chairs away from him, dragging Ino with him.

"And may I ask _why _you were so hellbend on killing this guy?" Kakashi asked, his grey eyes reduced to slits, displaying the scar above his left eye.

"Because," Gaara spat out venomously as he raised his head, his green eyes filled with hatred. "that bastard tried to rape my sister!"

**A/N: I know that Ten-Ten and Ebisu's last names are not given- that's why I gave them some and some characters might seem a little off, but I'm not trying to copy Kishi's characters, just borrowing them so they aren't exactly the same although I try not to distract too much from how they are usually portrayed. If anyone has any ideas, comments or suggestions- I'll be glad to here them!**

**Thanks for reading and don't forget to review!**

Tani


	3. Opening up slightly

Sadly, I do not own Naruto...

**Chapter 3**

"Because, that bastard tried to rape my sister!"

Silence greeted this statement. A silence so deafening, Kakashi was sure that if he had cared to test it, he could've dropped his pen on the floor and it would've made an almighty clatter. All eyes were on Gaara. Shikamaru and Ino seemed to be barely breathing. They seemed scared of the redhead, and yet, at the same time, concerned for him. Kakashi, on the other hand, watched Gaara with cool, calculating eyes. For his part, Gaara ignored the two teens next to him and fixed the man in front of him with such a heated gaze that Kakashi thought for sure the green eyes would pierce him like a lazer. His face was fierce, but several emotions seemed to be fighting for dominance in his eyes- anger, hurt, regret, pain, and above all, hatred.

"Who is he?" Ino asked at last, in a quiet voice.

Gaara turned to face her so quickly that Ino squeaked in surprise, Shikamaru tightened his grip on her protectively and Kakashi tensed, ready to intervene if necessary. Gaara still had a rather fierce look on his face. Slowly the look disappated and was replaced by a confused scowl.

"Excuse me?"

"The guy." Ino elaborated. "The one you used as a human punch-bag (and he deserved it), who is he?"

Ino said all this rather fast, surprising the three males with the speed she managed to utter such a large amount of letters with such a small amount of air and _still _be coherent. As she had started speaking, Ino had looked scared witless by her own daring to ask such a question. However, as she had uttered her opinion on the aforementioned punchbag, Gaara's scowl softened at the fierce look on her face.

"Why do you want to know?" Gaara's scowl was now replaced by a look of utter confusion.

"Because, I want to go pay him a visit after my time in this hell-hole is done!" Ino said fiercely, looking every bit as scary as Gaara had done not a minute before. "I want to finish what you started!"

Gaara looked so surprised at what Ino had said, it would've been funny had the mood not been so tense. Kakashi watched the interaction between his charges with interest. He was no child psychiatrist, although Iruka said he should become one since he had an ability to understand a child's point of view on a much higher level than any other adult could, and right then, Kakashi had to agree with him. He could almost see the thought processes of the three teens in front of him, as if they had transparent features.

Ino was pissed beyond belief that Gaara would've been arrested when he had only been trying to save his sister from a fate worse than death- to a woman at least. She didn't even know all the gory details- she didn't need them- but her indignation on Gaara's behalf was clear.

Shikamaru was clearly shaken by what had happened in the room, but had enough self-control to not show it- at least, not for the most part. He was now regarding Gaara with narrowed, wooded eyes. Not as if he didn't believe him, but rather as if waiting to see where this would go before making a decision. Kakashi had read the file on the boy and he was a genius with an IQ of over 200 points. The look on Shikamaru's face was calculating as if he were deciding what to do or how much to say. That he was appalled with Gaara's unexpected revelation and that he agreed with Ino was apparent. However, the boy remained silent.

Gaara was, to put it in a plain way, confused. Whatever reaction the boy had expected from his revelation, it was obvious that the current one was not in the top 10. Hell, Kakashi would've bet that the reaction of the other two teens didn't even make Gaara's list of the top 100. He was watching the other two teens with narrowed eyes as if trying to determine whether they were messing with him or not. Finally deciding that they weren't, Gaara's face softened slightly and a small smile played at one corner of his lips. He shook his head.

"It would do no good if I told you the scumball's name, there's nothing you could do." Gaara said at last. "And even if you could, you would only get yourself in a worse position."

"What do you mean?" Ino asked.

"The BeauroCratic system protects that bastard." Gaara said in a voice heavy with disgust and full of malice.

"The b-beerocraptic system?" Ino's tongue battled with the foreign word.

Her mispronounciation led to a snort from Shikamaru while Kakashi fought to keep down his chuckle. Even Gaara cracked a smile at Ino.

"BeauroCratic." Kakashi corrected. "The BeauroCrats are the families which run our country- making our laws, enforcing them and-"

"Abusing them."

This came from Shikamaru. Kakashi was surprised that the boy had chosen now to speak. It was obvious from the gaping look of surprise Ino was giving him and Gaara's raised eyebrow that the other two teens hadn't expected him to speak either. The silence was finally broken by Ino.

"What do you mean?"

Shikamaru stared at her for a moment, then shook his head.

"Troublesome." He said with a look that said he had every intention of clamming up again.

Ino, however, was apparently having _none_ of that.

"Oh no, mister." Ino chided the longhaired youth. "You opened your lazyassed mouth. Now explain."

Ino's expression promised all of hell would break loose if Shikamaru did not comply. Shikamaru's expresson clearly stated that he was bored with this whole affair and was quite clearly regretting opening his mouth.

"You two know each other."

It was a statement and all eyes turned towards the speaker. Gaara's eyes were slightly narrowed are he watched the other two.

"Yeah, you could say that." Shikamaru lazily drawled.

"My daddy and his dad are old friends." Ino explained.

"You could say that she's kinda the reason I ended up here..." Shikamaru shook his head at himself in disgust.

"Oh, come on, Shika, I never _asked _you to cover for me!" Ino countered.

"Yeah, because _I_ never knew you were a kleptomaniac!" Shikamaru sighed. "If I _did_, I'd have stayed far away from your usual place of business, I assure you."

Kakashi couldn't help but smile at the slight banter between two people who had obviously been good friends since birth. Gaara, although relieved that the spotlight was no longer on him, seemed confused.

"So, you two've known each other for a long time, right?"

"Yep!"Ino said brightly while Shikamaru nodded the affirmative.

"And you say _she's_ the reason you're in this hellhole?" Gaara addressed _this _question to the other young man.

"Well, for all intents and purposes, yeah." Shikamaru answered with a nonchalant tilt of his shoulders.

"Hey!" Ino interjected indignantly.

"And you're _still _friends?"

Here was the crux of the matter, the point that was really bothering the boy. Kakashi sat back and waited to see what answer the Nara would give that would satisfy Gaara's confused curiosity.

"Yeah." Shikamaru said with a soft, lazy smile.

"_WHY_?" Gaara's eyebrows were in danger of disappearing into his hairline.

"Because, she's like my sister." Shikamaru explained, confused himself as to all the questions, and even more so by the fact that _he_, and not Ino, was doing all the answering. "Both of us are only children. So each other is all we've got."

"Besides, siblings stand up for each other, don't they?" Ino asked Gaara. "Otherwise, _you _wouldn't be here either."

Kakashi had to admit, the blond had the redhead there. Everyone expected Gaara to have some comeback, but the said redhead just returned to his brooding. Realising that nothing more was going to come from the conversation, and looking at the time, Kakashi decided to end the session there.

"Very well, looks like that's all for today." Kakashi handed each of them an evelope with the information regarding their accomodation, parole sessions and school information, then turned to Ino and Shikamaru. "If either of you need to arrange a taxi, you can talk to the lady at the front desk."

"No, it's okay." Ino said. "A family friend will come to pick us up."

Kakashi nodded.

"I'll see you two later this week, then." Kakashi then turned to Gaara. "Since the house alloted to you and your siblings is on my normal route home, I'll give the three of you a lift."

Gaara nodded his assent and the four of them left the room together. Each wondering what the following year would hold, and each thinking that, as bad as it was, it couldn't be all bad. 

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><p><strong>AN: ** Sorry this has taken so long, but I think my muse is suffering from too much work- her story work load is imense at the moment, and the ideas just keep coming! Anyway, if anyone is still reading this, I hope you enjoy it and please review... Sorry if the characters seem a little OOC, but that's how I intended for them to be... since this _is_ an alternate universe type thing...


	4. Friends and enemies?

**A/N: **The usual disclaimers about not owning Naruto ect... except for this story which is all my own with a little help from borrowed characters! Enjoy and please review!

**Chapter 4**

Gaara, Shikamaru and Ino all followed Kakashi out of the offices and to the parking lot, where they found Kankuro and Temari waiting for them, while a white car stood waiting in front of the entrance.

"Well, it looks like our ride's here, Shika." Ino turned to the three men in her parole group. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you around, Gaara."

Temari and Kankuro stared in amazement as Gaara nodded tersely and gave the blond a small smile. Ino beamed a smile at him, then turned to Kakashi.

"Well, I'll see you next week, Mr Hatake." Ino ran to the car and pulled open the door. "Come ON, Shikamaru, you're so SLOW!"

Shikamaru shook his head while Kakashi chuckled. All Gaara could do was gape at the bubbly blond.

"What've I gotten myself into?" he murmured.

"You have _no_ idea." Shikamaru fixed Gaara with a piercing look. "You _do _realise that she will be looking out for you at school on Monday like a hawk, right?"

Gaara groaned as he realised what Shikamaru was implying. Ino would attach herself to him like a leech, since he and Shikamaru would be the only people that she would know.

_But judging by her personality, that won't be a problem for long..._

Shikamaru gave Gaara a sympathetic smile.

"Ino always gets excited, when she makes a new friend."

"Friend?" Gaara frowned slightly, as if confused by the foreign word.

"You don't think of her like that, do you?" Shikamaru's eyes narrowed into slits as he regarded his fellow parolee.

Kakashi watched this exchange with interest, Temari and Kankuro with amazement and incredulity respectively. Gaara ignored his siblings and parole officer and stared at the sharp-eyed boy in front of him. Finally he answered.

"I... don't know. I've never had one before." Gaara spoke slowly, as if measuring his words, his expression guarded. "A friend, I mean."

Shikamaru's eyes widened slightly and a small smile appeared on his lips as he snorted softly.

"Yeah, well, I don't think you have to worry about _that_ anymore." Shikamaru's expression became slightly amused as his smile turned into a smirk. "Though whether you actually _want _Ino as a friend is another story..."

Before Gaara could respond, Ino opened the car door and stuck out her head.

"SHIKAMARU! Get your lazy ass over here NOW!"

Shikamaru shook his head with a dark chuckle.

"I think I've made my point."

"SHIKA!"

"Alright, alright, don't get your knickers in a knot!" Shikamaru turned back to Kakashi and Gaara. "I better go before she has an aneurysm... Well, I guess I'll see you next week, Kakashi. See you at school on Monday, Gaara."

"Yeah." Gaara nodded.

Shikamaru nodded back, then stuck his hands into his pockets and sauntered to the waiting car. Gaara simply stared at the car as it drove off, taking with it the first friends he had literally ever had.

"Well, shall we be off?" Kakashi broke the silence.

"Yeah." Kankuro agreed.

"Sure." Temari said.

Kakashi walked off, Kankuro right behind him and Temari following closely behind. Realising that Gaara wasn't following, Temari turned to her youngest brother.

"Gaara? Come on."

Gaara remained where he was.

"Gaara. We're leaving..."

"Yeah..." Gaara stared in the direction of car one last time then turned to follow his sister.

He saw the slightly worried expression on Temari's face and gave her a small smile. Temari's eyes widened in surprise and she gave her youngest brother a small smile in return. As they turned, she saw Kankuro and Kakashi waiting for them. They all followed Kakashi to a white van. As they reached the van, Kakashi's cellphone rang.

"Hatake."

Kakashi's expression darkened and his aura turned menacing. The three no Sabaku siblings glanced at each other nervously.

"_Again_?!" Kakashi's voice shook with barely contained anger. "I see. I'll be right over to collect him."

Kakashi hung up and opened the van.

"I'm sorry, but we'll have to take a small detour." Kakashi told them. "I have to pick my nephew up from school."

The three siblings got into the back of the van, Kankuro taking the back seat, Gaara and Temari the seats by the doors. Kakashi got into the driver's seat and pulled out of the parking of the correctional offices and onto the road heading into town. As they wove through the streets, the van was eerily silent. Kakashi fumed silently and the rest were too nervous or preoccupied by their own thoughts to say anything. Finally Kakashi turned the van into a gateway with large arches topped by twin phoenix and drove up the road to a large and impressive building.

"Well, here we are. This'll be your new school." Kakashi pulled into an open parking lot right in front of the main entrance and switched off the van. "I'll be right back. This shouldn't take too long."

With that Kakashi got out of the van, shutting the door smartly behind him, and walked to the terrace where two figures were waiting for him. One seemed to be the someone of importance to the school, since he wore a suit.

_Probably the principal. _Gaara thought as he leaned across Temari to watch while Kankuro watched over his sister's other shoulder.

The second figure was quite obviously a student, since he was dressed in the school uniform, a leather satchel slung over one shoulder. Kakashi's back was to them, but it was obvious that he and the principal were having a serious discussion. The student, who the siblings assumed to be Kakashi's nephew, looked bored with the proceedings. Kakashi turned to the youth and his bored expression turned sullen. Kakashi said something to the principal and he took his leave of them. Kakashi took the youth by his shoulder and roughly pushed him towards the van. As they approached, it was obvious to the three in the van that they were having a heated exchange of words, from what they could hear as the two got closer.

"... can't keep doing this, Itachi!" Kakashi said sternly as he walked to the van.

"Like I care. It's not like anything happened anyway, since he wussed out." the boy called Itachi retorted.

Temari watched the boy out of the corner of her eye. He seemed to be more or less the same age as she was, around 16 or 17 years old. He was tall, but not extremely so, since Kakashi stood about a head taller, and his school uniform was immaculate. He had his long hair pulled into a pony tail at the nape of his neck and he was handsome in a casual way, as if he didn't have to try and the girls just flocked to him. The arrogant air that surrounded him was tinged with annoyance and the expression on his face was cold.

"We are not doing this now." Kakashi answered. "We'll continued this at home. Now get in the car!"

"Yes, _dad_." Itachi sneered as he got into the front passanger seat, slamming the door behind him.

Kakashi closed his eyes as if praying for patience before getting back behind the wheel.

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><p><strong>AN: **Sorry if the characters seem a little OC, but ja, well... I guess that's just how they turned out... Anyhow, please read and review.


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